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Sedgwick County Demonstrates New Voting Machines

Carla Eckels
/
KMUW

The Sedgwick County Election Office hosted a public demonstration today prospective of new voting equipment that will replace current election machines.

The current voting machines have been in use for 10 years and for security purposes need to be upgraded to newer technology. But Sedgwick County Election Commissioner Tabitha Lehman says the new machines won’t be be put into use until 2017.

Credit Carla Eckels / KMUW
/
KMUW
Tabitha Lehman, Sedgwick County election commissioner.

"With our current system we know what our challenges are that we face, and so we don’t want to go into a presidential election with brand new machines without our election workers being very comfortable using them, without the voters being comfortable," Lehman says. "Having a large turnout on something new is an unknown and that could just create lots of problems."

Lehman says the county will also add 300 to the number of machines available, making the total 900 new touch-screen voting machines for 2017. The new equipment is estimated to cost between $5 to $7 million.

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Carla Eckels is assistant news director and the host of Soulsations. Follow her on Twitter @Eckels.

To contact KMUW News or to send in a news tip, reach us at news@kmuw.org.

Carla Eckels is Director of Organizational Culture at KMUW. She produces and hosts the R&B and gospel show Soulsations and brings stories of race and culture to The Range with the monthly segment In the Mix. Carla was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum's Trailblazers Hall of Fame in 2020 for her work in broadcast/journalism.